HELSINKI: Finnish police said Wednesday they had arrested two people as part of an investigation into whether defense company Patria bribed officials to win contracts in Egypt and Slovenia.
The company sold artillery production technology to Egypt and armored vehicles and mortars to Slovenia.
We are investigating whether the company or some of its employees are guilty of bribery, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said in a statement.
It said it had arrested two people on Tuesday.
The NBI declined to comment on the amount of money suspected to have been used as bribes, and did not disclose the nationality of the suspects.The investigation was expected to be lengthy, it said.
In a statement on its website, Patria denied the accusations, and said the NBI had searched two of its offices in Finland on Tuesday, seizing data related to the Slovenia contract and its preparatory work.
In the spring of 2007, Finnish media reported that slush funds had been used prior to deals in Egypt.
In addition we are also investigating, at the company s request, whether confidential business information was published in media reports, Janne Jaervinen, NBI senior detective superintendent, told AFP.
The Finnish state owns 73 percent of Patria, while the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) has a 27-percent stake. -AFP
